Fission
by The Mage of Blood
Summary: A week after Homeworld sends spies to Earth, the Crystal Gems prepare for an probable follow-up attack, and suffer a loss none of them expected. This story is property of Devin B. If you want to post this to another website you must ask permission. You may not sell this content or anything else by the original author without express permission.
1. Alone

**Alone**

 **Edited and Proofread By: RDasher12**

 **Grammar Nazi'd By: Nova C.**

It was a gloomy day, rainy, an inside kind of day, a rain even Garnet couldn't predict. The rhythmic pitter-patter on the roof of the barn was almost soothing. Lapis slept this day away, and Peridot watched over her dutifully. Peridot felt the need to do so every time it rained, prior experiences with water not being fond to the blue gem. She denied this time and time again to try and keep everyone from thinking too deeply into her and Lapis.

Back and forth she would march, taking voice logs for documentation. It was sweet in a way.

"Last weeks reconnaissance from Homeworld hit us hard. Thankfully they haven't returned yet. I have been on guard as any gem would be. Their spies made out with blueprint for a weapon powerful enough to shatter any gem in the blink of an eye." She was talking about the Breaking Point-a weapon so powerful it could shatter any gem. Peridot especially was on edge; she had called her former diamond a clod after all. She would pace for hours pondering on how to react once Yellow Diamond sent for her shards.

In the temple, the rain wasn't much different-making its natural symphony. The screen door didn't provide much resistance towards the falling water; the floor near the door was soaked. The rest of the Crystal Gems were making a game plan of their own.

Garnet was in her room of the temple meditating to try and foresee any possible futures that would be useful to know. It was quiet when nobody else was in their rooms of the temple; a rare occasion that gave a wonderful chance for her to clear her head and relax. She was composed of two gems: Ruby and Sapphire. Rubies, back on homeworld, were common foot soldiers-pawns on the chessboard of battle. Sapphires were aristocratic gems. This particular Sapphire was a former member of Blue Diamond's council. Garnet as a whole couldn't focus today, and she wasn't sure why.

Pearl was pacing back and forth frantically trying to think of the safest option for Steven. that was always the first thought that ran through her head in any dangerous situation. She worried too much and thought at times that she bored Steven. Ever since Rose Quartz became Steven, she felt it was her sworn duty to protect Steven-more so than the others at any cost.

Amethyst, well, she receded into her gem a week prior and still had yet to re-form. Nobody was sure why she went into her gem-nobody but her. When she learned Homeworld had taken the blueprints, she pinned all the blame on herself. She was off doing her own thing: only worrying about herself, and what food she could eat. It was too much for the little gem to handle. The pure emotional distress it had thrown her into her gem; there she stayed to try and cope.

Steven was on the couch; his young mind not sure what to do with the situation. He had been through much more than anyone could've gone through in a lifetime. He grew up never knowing his mother, only learning bits and pieces recently. He had managed to zone out. He never enjoyed rain. It confined him to his home; but in times like these, the ambiance that came with it was welcome.

"We'll have to keep him in Rose's room, but what if they find a way in? They could release all of the bubbles we have or worse. Maybe if Amethyst came back she could fuse with Steven. Then they would both be safer, but what if we need Alexandrite or even Sugilite?" Pearl ranted. Steven stared blankly at the ceiling. He heard her talking, but didn't truly listen to it; he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts.

"I need to talk to Garnet; maybe she will know what to do." He thought to himself.

"How would I get to her room though? I've only been in there once, and it was not a fun ride from Pearl's room down. Would Pearl even let me into room? Would Garnet let me into hers?"

Hours passed. Steven could feel himself slowly going crazy; he hadn't moved from the couch the whole time. Pulling himself off the couch, he heard his stomach growl. Maybe some food would help clear his mind. As he stood up he got a bit light headed. It happened from time to time, and only when he didn't move for a large amount of time, so it didn't phase him. Pearl was still talking to herself, thinking of plans and promptly pointing out the flaws in each. She was so enthralled in trying to brainstorm that she didn't even notice Steven walking towards the kitchen. He opened the cabinet and saw an unopened bag of Chaaaaps brand potato chips, his favorite, and walked back over to the couch. He continued his thoughts, this time with flavor.

Garnet stepped out of her room, and Steven perked up. "Garnet, can we talk? I have a lot on my mind."

Garnet beckoned him over towards the door into the temple. "Of course Steven. Step into my office." The door opened and revealed her room; she was trying to bring humor even in the dark times.

They seated themselves in front of the lava pit ever burning on the center of the room. "Now, what's on your mind?" Garnet asked, a bit concerned.

"Why hasn't Amethyst come back? Don't you only recede into your gems when your physical forms take too much damage? " Steven asked.

Garnet sighed. "I don't know, Steven. I wish I could tell you but I just don't know." This wasn't the answer Steven expected. Surely Garnet knew. She had to; she was so smart.

"Can you give me your future vision? I want to know if it'll get better." Steven begged.

"Sure Steven. What kind of gem would I be if I didn't?" She didn't want to tell him she had been having trouble with it, and she wasn't sure if it would work for him, but she said she would. Planting a kiss upon his forehead, she expected the worst.

The Burning Room faded around Steven as it slowly became very dark. It was still raining. He could feel the sand from the beach under his feet-wet and together from the rain. His eyes were finally adjusting to the change in light when he saw Garnet, fighting something, but he couldn't see what or who.

To his surprise, Amethyst was running towards Garnet, pulling her whip from her gem and ready to attack. There was someone running behind her-another foe? He couldn't make out who it was. They were about the same height as Amethyst, and keeping up pace from a steady distance behind.

Just before he could see who it was, the vision faded and the light from the lava pit blinding him. "Now run along young man. I need to focus." Garnet didn't really want him to leave. She wanted to know what he saw; it ate away at her. Steven nodded and walked back out of her room. He had more questions than before and he just wanted answers.

It was late; he had stayed in Garnet's room longer than he had thought. "I'm just gonna go sleep. Maybe my mind will be clear in the morning." He muttered to himself. Pearl was still talking to herself, and Amethyst was still resting on the counter in her gem.

Trudging upstairs he fell onto his bed-at least the space that Lion wasn't taking up. "I've had a bit of a rough day, so if you need to throw up any space lizards, please don't do it on the bed." Lion just rested his head back down and yawned. He wanted to sleep, but he was up for a while. Who was the figure behind Amethyst? How long had she been back for, and what brought her back? Eventually he drifted off to sleep, letting his dreams keep him in a much needed sanctuary from his thoughts.

He awoke in a rather unpleasant way. Amethyst was shaking him vigorously and screaming. "Come on, get up Steven! Homeworld came back hard! Let's go kick their butts as Smoky Quartz!" Steven was up from that point on- a transformation from groggy to battle ready in mere seconds. Amethyst was farther ahead than he was, then it hit him. He was the one behind her in his vision-it was happening now.

He saw Amethyst draw her whip and coil it around an unknown assailant. "Wait," Steven said to himself. "An Agate, but not Holly Blue from when we saved Dad." She had a similar weapon to Holly Blue. It was a much shorter whip with multiple appendages-all with barbed tips: a cat-o-nine-tails. Then he saw Garnet in a tussle with a Jasper. He looked at where her nose would be and saw a normal nose-no gem, or crash helmet. Panic set in as he looked at the Jasper's hands. She hadn't a sword, nor an axe, not even a morning star. No, he knew that weapon all too well. No wonder Garnet was dodging so much. A tear ran down his face. Homeworld was cruel. He fell to his knees, frozen with shock. This Jasper had the Breaking Point. He couldn't look away.

"How do I get her off of me? She's so nimble; all I can do is dodge." Garnet had that thought and many more racing through her head. With a swift kick Garnet sent the Jasper tumbling away, and bouncing across the sand. She heard Amethyst behind her. She was back, and she was also fighting another Homeworld gem Garnet didn't see-an Agate, a shade of royal yellow.

Then she saw Steven-tears streaming down his face. She felt something inside her break. There was so much to upset him so quickly.

She saw his mouth moving and then heard a loud "Garnet, look out!" Turning back around, she saw the Jasper was a charging at her, having readied the Breaking Point. She was too close and hadn't realized she had reacted until she caught the blow thrown by the Breaking Point with her left hand. Jasper smiled as the Breaking Point's plunger extended out, followed by a loud metal clang as it went swiftly back into its original place. Jasper pulled away, a wicked grin spread across her face.

Garnet looked down at her gauntlet covered hand. A large hole had punctured even through the tough gauntlet. She flickered, and then fell. Her physical form kept flickering, until Garnet was no longer Garnet. Ruby gave Sapphire a loving embrace as she crumbled and was no more. Sapphire was alone.

 **End of Part One**


	2. Strife

**Strife**

None of the Crystal Gems could've ever expected this to happen. The strongest of the group-the leader-was gone as if it was nothing. Their own Garnet was a pile of shards clutched to the breast of an unconscious Sapphire.

"Get the ship running. You know I don't know how to work that thing." Jasper shouted back to her Agate. She had removed her Breaking Point Prototype; the impact of shattering that fusion had made it chafe against the gem on her knuckle. She rubbed her gem as she shouted again. "Agate? Let's go! We're done here." Still no response. Just as she turned around she saw a runt of an Amethyst pulling a whip tightly around Agate.

Fear, anger, and sorrow powered the purple gem's blows. She was scared she would be shattered herself, but they couldn't just do that to Garnet and get away with it. Strike after strike was landed on Royal Yellow Agate. Amethyst was blinded by tears and hate. The advantage of range was on her side though as she coiled her whip around her foe and pulled as hard as she could.

As an Agate, she had all variations of Quartz working under her. She hadn't dealt with many Amethysts, but she knew they were larger in stature than this one. She wasn't a mutant and her gem was intact. So why was she so short? Why was she so fast for her height? Why was she winning? Agate was unaware why she was so fixated on this Amethyst. She needed to focus on getting close to her to land a blow. That was the biggest flaw of her weapon, but she hadn't seen true combat yet so the problem had not shown itself. She was so caught up in planning that she had neglected to hear Jasper's voice and failed to see Amethyst's whip wrap around her physical form. For the first time in Royal Yellow's life she had felt pain as she felt herself collapsing into her gem.

Steven had never felt sadness like this before. He had never known his mother. He had drifted aimlessly through space thinking that was his eternal fate. He had to bust into the human zoo of Blue Diamond herself to save his father, and yet he hasn't felt sorrow of this caliber before. He had seen Garnet as the cool mom-one that had a subtle sense of humor. One that could be there for him before he even knew he needed her. He had ran out of tears but still cried. Completely frozen by shock all he could do is stare at the battle in front of him. Then he saw Sapphire. She wasn't moving and clutched something to her chest. He could only imagine how she felt. One moment she was with the one she loved, and the next she wasn't.

Pearl fell to her knees. "Garnet is gone." The thought swam through her head but she couldn't accept it. The memories of when they were fused flooded her mind. The power that surged through her body when they were Alexandrite. The charisma and charm that came from Sardonyx. Then she thought of Sapphire. She couldn't be faring much better than she was. Pearl couldn't even imagine the pain the blue gem was going through, but she knew one thing. She wasn't going the let the same thing happen to any other Crystal Gem.

Amethyst quickly bubbled and sent off her opponent. Clearing the tears from her eyes, she looked around. Pearl was getting off the ground and had begun walking towards her.

Pearl was walking slowly. Amethyst was all she could focus on, unaware that Steven sobbed not two feet to her left as she walked past him. Blinking away her still flowing tears, she had only noticed Amethyst sprinting through the rain towards her when she felt something crash into her legs. They became one.

Steven saw the fusion and almost smiled. "Giant woman…" He said softly, but taking another look, he realized it wasn't Opal. In front of him stood a bulky black gem who looked as surprised as he was to see her. She turned around and saw Jasper dashing towards her-Breaking Point readied.

She almost didn't know who she was. The combined sorrow of her components nearly drowned out her identity. She was Tourmaline. Without thought she combined her component's weapons-clenching Pearl's spears in her fists and wrapping Amethyst's whips around her knuckles. Her makeshift weapons expanded outwards, covering the first segments of her fingers right below the knuckle. The gems along the whip's body grew into jagged edges while the body of the whip itself fitted itself around her fingers and solidified. Clashing her new weapons together-a brutal looking pair of brass knuckles-she was ready.

Steven was in awe. He had never seen a gem quite like who was before him. The first thing he noticed was her head. It floated above her body but stayed true as if she had an invisible neck. Her face, or rather, faces were on opposite sides of her head, one roughly resembling Pearl, and the other resembling Amethyst. The entirety of her head was crystalline with shades of green and pink reflecting the light of dawn into an off-color rainbow. She made him forget all his troubles for a brief moment. When she moved to combat Jasper however, he saw Sapphire again and immediately saddened once more.

Jasper seemingly unphased by the fusion, kept bounding towards her foe. "I've shattered one fusion. You think I'm scared of another?" Pushing herself off the ground, Jasper jumped up and tried to thrust the Breaking Point towards the gem on Tourmaline's chest. Before her weapon could come close to shattering the target however, a hard punch thrown from the fusion sent her sprawling to the left. The Breaking Point bent and crumbled from the impact, leaving a small dent in Jasper's gem and rendering her advantage useless.

Tourmaline's head swiveled around to show Jasper Amethyst's face. "Take that you brute! Nobody messes with the Crystal Gems!" Another swivel lead to Pearl's face. "What we have for you is worse than shattering." She walked over to Jasper, who was struggling to get up. The right leg of her physical form was broken. "Where are the blueprints?" The yellow gem pointed towards the small Homeworld ship she had arrived in. "You are no longer of any use to us." Tourmaline said as she took her head in one hand and dropped it onto the incapacitated gem. Jasper receded into her gem as Tourmaline's head floated back up to it's rightful place. "Steven, bubble her."

Steven got up and slowly walked over towards the two. He bent down and picked up the dented gem, taking another look at her before he bubbled her and sent her off to the Burning Room. "What's your name?" He asked as he looked over at the fusion.

"I am Tourmaline, and I cannot stay this way for much longer." Amethyst's face said. Pearl swiveled back towards Steven. "Take Sapphire back home and make sure she's safe. I'm going to deal with the ship." She started running towards the Homeworld ship as Amethyst's face watched Steven run towards Sapphire.

After a minute of running through the wet sand, he arrived next to Sapphire. She still had Ruby's shards in her hand and with a closer look he saw a frozen tear halfway down her cheek. Picking her up carefully and taking in the view of the rising sun, he started jogging back home, it would've been nice a day before.

Tourmaline reached the Homeworld ship and thought for a brief moment that it should stay intact; the Crystal Gems could use another ship anyways. She quickly brushed off the thought as she realized the ship would probably be tracked if it wasn't back after a while. Worse things might happen to the Gems if the ship stayed on Earth. She reached her fist inside and began destroying the interior. She took her hand back out as she felt something of a different texture than the rest of the ship. It was the blueprints.

 **End of Part Two**


	3. Grief

**Grief**

I did it out of instinct to protect my lover. I would sacrifice myself to save her. I'm just a foot soldier; there are more Rubies in the universe she could be Garnet with. Then I realized what I had done. I would be leaving her alone, my Laughy Sapphy in this universe without her Ruby. It wasn't a matter of replacement. It was a matter of who I am. There may be more Rubies, but I'm the only Ruby who is me, and she was the only Sapphire that was her. Together we were the only Garnet that was us.

As a Sapphire I can predict the future in a way. I can see all possible outcomes and plan accordingly for each. She was always so stubborn, and I always told her that it would be the end of her. We could've just dodged or kept moving. A group attack would've won the battle then and there, but everyone was too scared of getting shattered. I guess she wasn't.

Ruby smiled at me. "It's gonna be okay. Just stay my Laughy Sapphy." She took me into an embrace in her final moments. I cried into her shoulder as she crumbled in my arms. All that was left was her shards in my hands. I clutched them to my chest as everything faded to black.

I woke up in the house-Steven sitting over me. Shards still in my hands, I felt something stuck to my cheek. It was a frozen tear. As I sat up, Steven looked over.

The entirety of the Crystal Gems scrambled up the stairs, and before I knew it I was surrounded by apologies from all angles. "Are you okay?" "I'm so sorry for your loss." "How're you feeling?" Everyone was pelting me with questions and it just wouldn't stop. All I wanted was to be alone. But I didn't. I wanted to be with Ruby.

"How long was I out?" Everyone almost didn't hear me over their verbal bombardments. Three days I was unconscious; I didn't even know gems could be unconscious. The flurry of questions had slowed down as I opened my palm. Everyone saw Ruby and everyone gasped. Even me. Why was I so surprised? I watched her shatter. I heard her last words. It couldn't have happened; I would never believe if it did. But it did. No, it didn't. I'm so conflicted.

Everyone chased after me when I darted towards the door to my room. I'd never been so happy to be as fast as I am. They couldn't keep up as the door closed behind me. My room was almost unfamiliar to me; it had been so long since I had entered it. It always had a slight chill the closer to the center you got, and temperatures rose as you got closer to the walls. It wasn't an overbearing heat, but it was noticeable. The walls themselves were made of flowing molten rock. From top to bottom it would go from lava to a near solid stone, but it never stopped moving and never seemed to go anywhere. They were white in color with black spots at random. There was furniture made of a finely sculpted ice in the middle of the room, created to have an aristocratic feel.

I fell onto a frozen sofa and placed Ruby onto coffee table in front of me. She wasn't shattered. She couldn't be. Soon she would reform and they could be Garnet again. Everything would be fine and happy. I stared for several minutes. she would come back. She was just taking her time. An hour passed and Ruby hadn't so much as moved. "Any moment now; you can do it." She wasn't shattered; she was just taking her time.

Several more hours had gone by and not even a fidget from Ruby. I started to get mad. I don't know why but I just started screaming. "Why did you do that! You could've lived if you weren't trying to be so noble! Why did you have to leave me here all alone! What good is Rose Quartz's teachings of being who we want to be when this isn't who I want to be!" I ranted on and on for hours blaming everyone but myself, but when I started blaming myself, I realised something else.

It could've been me. It should've been me. Why wasn't it me? If only it was me, she would still be here. If only I had intervened. If only I had done something. I looked up at the ceiling. "Rose, what if I could've taken her place? If only I had caught the punch instead of her, she could just be here. Please, I'd do anything to get her back. What if I gave up myself so she could live?" So many possibilities for the future and this was the path that was chosen! "Someone. Something. Anyone, please, bring her back!" I found myself shouting at the ceiling. It was pointless: nothing was going to bring her back. Why should I even try? "I'm sorry." I whispered to Ruby.

I haven't left my room in weeks; there was no reason to. Leaving my room wasn't going to bring Ruby back. Nothing would. I had considered shattering myself quite a few times. Once I had even resorted to slamming my gem over and over into the walls of my room to no avail. I had no reason to keep living without my Ruby. She was as much of me as I was of her. Nobody would understand what I'm going through. Nobody. More tears came; so many had been shed over the weeks. It was all I could do. Even standing up was a chore.

Another few days had passed. Was this never going to end? All I had done for a month now was cry, but for the first time since Ruby had passed I felt tired. As more tears froze down my face I drifted to sleep.

I saw Ruby; she was right there in front of me! She smiled. "It's gonna be okay." No, this wasn't happening again. Once was painful enough and now I'm going to watch her shatter again. "Where's my Laughy Sapphy?" What? It was Ruby's voice but she had never said that to me before. Am I going crazy? "I know this is tough for you Sapphire, but I just wanted the best for you, and the best for you meant me sacrificing myself for you. I heard everything you said. Every word spoken. Every tear shed. I didn't want you to feel this way, and I don't want to keep seeing you this way." I couldn't help but cry more. I wasn't even sad anymore. I don't know how I felt. "It's gonna be okay. Just stay my Laughy Sapphy."

 **End of Part Three**


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